My wonderful husband just took me to Atlanta for the weekend. On Friday night we saw the Atlanta Braves vs. the Washington Nationals at Turner Field. After a gloomy rainy day, we lucked out on the weather, just dodging a few stray rain drops and the Braves one with a home run. On Saturday we toured Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic site and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change.

The National Park Service undertook an extensive renovation of the legendary Ebenezer Baptist Church returning the sanctuary and meeting room to it’s 1960’s appearance when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was co-pastor. The iconic neon sign out in front of the church is your first brush with history. I remember seeing that sign on television, throughout my child-hood. The humble entrance leads to a short flight of stairs to the sanctuary. Dr. King’s voice filled that holy space and I got goose bumps and tears in my eyes. Alan and I were nearly alone in the church and had time to sit down in the pew and just take it all in. It was inspiring and emotional. I could feel his presence. Down stairs in the meeting hall, a video of Dr. King’s sister was playing and she described all the happy and the sorrowful times they had shared in this place.

Ebenezer Baptist Church was founded with thirteen members in November 1886. Reverend Adam Daniel (A.D.) Williams, maternal grandfather of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became pastor in 1894. The congregation moved to their permanent church location at 407 Auburn Avenue in 1922.

To understand the civil rights movement you must tour Ebenezer Baptist Church, it was literally the heartbeat of this community. Enslaved by Jim Crow the members of Ebenezer Baptist Church gathered to worship, to console and to agitate. At the core of King’s history making quest for civil rights for African Americans is this humble wooden and brick church.

I was incredibly moved and enlightened by the exhibit paying tribute to the 50^th anniversary of the march on Washington at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

http://www.nps.gov/malu/index.htm

Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr. are entombed in the reflecting pool at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change. The exhibits inside detail King’s life and his study with Gandhi in India. One case holds several of his tailored suits, leather shoes and a jewelery box with tie tacks and cufflinks.

I was stuck by the violence that shadowed King’s life. He was often beaten, stabbed, the family home was bombed and the threats never stopped. After Kennedy’s assassination King said, “That’s exactly what’s going to happen to me.”

On a visit to Atlanta, skip the Martha Mitchell house and spend some time with history on Auburn Street.